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Wednesday, 24 October 2012

This might be a random way to start off a new blog - ideally
I guess I would start with a post introducing myself and what this blog is
going to be about. Instead I’m just going to dive right in!

I saw a question someone asked me the other day about my
novel, Chasing Freedom, and it made me think. And I decided to share those
thoughts.

Let me give you a little background. In my novel my central
character must decide between his freedom and, well, pretty much everything
else. The question someone asked me was, is his freedom really the most
important thing that he could give up? I think they were trying to ask me if it
was really a big enough sacrifice for it to be the driving force of the novel.

It was a question that no one had asked me before, and it
made me pause to think. To be honest though, I didn’t have to think about it
for long.

The simple answer was yes. An easy, simple yes.

Perhaps it’s just me, but personally, I can think of nothing
that I value more than my freedom.

Not my physical freedom, although, yes, that’s very
important too, but my mental freedom. The freedom in my life to wake up each
morning and decide for myself what kind of person I want to be. The freedom to
make my own choices about the life I want to lead, and the things I want to do.
The freedom to believe in what I want to believe, to hold the opinions I want
to hold.

I can imagine no worse fate than to have those freedoms
taken away from me. To have someone else choose those things for me. To tell me
how I should live, or love, or feel. To have someone else decide if I am going
to be a good or bad person.

The freedom to be ourselves, even if others don’t like it
should be the most sacred thing to all of us. That freedom is taken away from
kids at school by bullying. It’s taken away from adults by societal pressure to
conform and fit it. And yes, perhaps I’m getting a little political here.

But back to the fantasy world of my novel, when Chase is
forced to choose between his freedom and the ones he loves, it’s not his
physical freedom that he’s sacrificing. It’s the freedom to determine his own
destiny, and that, in my mind, would be one hell of a big sacrifice. I think,
or I hope, that I would make the same choice Chase does. But it sure wouldn’t
be an easy one.

As for what he actually does decide? Well, you’d have to
read the book to find out!